Trump rebuffed by Iran’s leader after sending letter calling for nuclear negotiation
President Trump said he sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last week asking that the two leaders “negotiate” over the Islamic republic’s nuclear program. On Saturday, the Iranian leader condemned the effort by unnamed “bullying governments” to make a deal over the program.
Trump said the alternative to talks is force during an interview with Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures.
“There are two ways Iran can be handled, militarily or you make a deal,” Trump said. “I would prefer to make a deal, because I’m not looking to hurt Iran. They’re great people. I know so many Iranians from this country.”
The president went on to criticize Iran’s leadership, but said he’s written Iran’s supreme leader personally asking to talk. Khamenei rebuffed the outreach Saturday during a meeting with government and military officials.
“The insistence of some bullying governments to negotiate is not to solve problems, but to impose their own expectations,” Khamenei said, according to state media. “The Islamic Republic of Iran will definitely not accept their expectations.”
Iran’s nuclear program has been the subject of Western scrutiny for nearly two decades. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for energy use only, but the U.S. and its allies say Iran’s program is a front for a nuclear weapons bomb.
On Sunday, Iran seemed to open the door to limited negotiations. Its UN mission posted on X that Iran would discuss the “militarization” of its nuclear program, but the “dismantlement” of its program is a non-starter.
“Should the aim be the dismantlement of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program to claim that what Obama failed to achieve has now been accomplished, such negotiations will never take place,” Iran’s UN Mission said.
While Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes, its officials have recently threatened to create a bomb in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, according to a recent House resolution by Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla. And weapons-grade uranium production has increased, according to the Associated Press.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News the deal he wants to reach with Iran.
“Here’s what a good deal looks like to me,” Graham, an influential foreign policy voice in the Senate, said. “No more enrichment for Iran. Take all the highly enriched uranium out of Iran — I’m willing to buy it from them and allow them to have nuclear power where fuel rods are provided by Russia or China or some international group.”
In short, Graham said he wants to eliminate Iran’s “nuclear capability to make a bomb.”
Trump summarized his message to Iran’s leader.
“I said, ‘I hope you’re going to negotiate, because it’s going to be a lot better for Iran,'” Trump recounted to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo. “And I think they want to get that letter. The other alternative is, we have to do something, because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon.”
Auburn fires coach Hugh Freeze following 12th loss in his last 15 SEC games
The 56-year-old Freeze failed to fix Auburn’s offensive issues in three years on the Plains, scoring 24 or fewer points in 17 of his 22 league games. He also ended up on the wrong end of too many close matchups, including twice this season thanks partly to questionable calls.
In a ‘disheartening’ era, the nation’s former top mining regulator speaks out
Joe Pizarchik, who led the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement from 2009 to 2017, says Alabama’s move in the wake of a fatal 2024 home explosion increases risks to residents living atop “gassy” coal mines.
‘It’s like feeling the arms of your creator just wrapped around you’: a visit to a special healing Shabbat
Members of Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham gathered recently for their traditional Friday Shabbat service. But this particular service was different, as could be seen by all the people dressed in their finest pink.
Space Command is coming to Huntsville. What might that mean for first-time homebuyers
While Huntsville has been a more affordable market than other growing cities, what’s it been like for those looking for their first home?
Colorado says relocation of Space Command to Alabama is ‘punishment’ for mail-in voting
The litigation announced by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser asks a federal judge to block the move as unconstitutional.
Breaking down Alabama’s CHOOSE Act
It’s been a year since Alabama legislators passed the CHOOSE Act allowing families to apply for state funds to use towards homeschool expenses and tuition for participating private schools. The Alabama Daily News’ education reporter Trisha Powell Crain has been diving into how the funds are being used. WBHM’s Andrew Gelderman sat down with her to talk about what we’re seeing so far.
